Hail to the ChefsTyler Florence hosts some of the Southeast’s top toques for a food, wine, and music festival at Palmetto Bluff

WRITTEN BY MARION SULLIVAN

From November 18 through 22, you can bet your favorite fork that some of the best bites in the Lowcountry will be found on the May River at Palmetto Bluff. Motor a mere 90 miles down the coast for “Music to Your Mouth,” five fabulous food-filled days led by Food Network star and cookbook author Tyler Florence and an all-star cast of top toques, including quite a few Charleston favorites.

Who’s Cookin’: Laying out the eats—from a “House Party” progressive dinner to an old-fashioned Lowcountry oyster roast on the banks of the river—is a major mix of barbecue masters, Charleston A-list culinarians, and visiting celeb chefs hosted by Florence and Palmetto Bluff’s new executive chef, Kirk Gilbert, fresh in from a stint at Charlotte’s four-diamond Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge. Familiar faces from the Holy City include Donald Barickman and Don Drake of Magnolias, Sean Brock of McCrady’s, Frank Lee of SNOB, Robert Stehling of Hominy Grill, and Jason Houser of Muse. Out-of-towners adding additional star power to the scene are Chris and Idie Hastings of Birmingham’s Hot and Hot Fish Club, Ford Frye of Atlanta’s JCT Kitchen & Bar, Bill Smith of Chapel Hill’s Crook’s Corner, and Top Chef top talent Kevin Gillespie of Atlanta’s Woodfire Grill.

Not to be Missed: The Culinary Festival on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Chefs, vintners, and brewers will be joined by growers from around the Lowcountry to showcase their signature products and dishes on the Village Green. Add live music and cooking demonstrations by Florence, and you have every foodie’s fantasy for a fall afternoon.

The cost of tickets ranges from $45 for a cooking class or wine and cheese tasting to $750 for the Ultimate Weekend Package. Palmetto Bluff will be donating $25 of every ticket sold to Second Helpings, a nonprofit organization committed to eliminating hunger.

To read our December 2005 feature on Tyler Florence (“Fit to Be Tyler”), click here.